Sally Monserud Hall Honors Educator

Sally Monserud. Photo: University of Alaska Anchorage Archives

Sally Monserud Hall on the UAA campus bears the name of one of the original faculty members at what was then known as Anchorage Community College. She taught composition and English as a second language.

Sarah Martha Louise "Sally" Monserud was born in Iowa in 1907. In 1908, her family moved to South Dakota. She received a bachelor's degree in English from Augustana College in 1929 and a master's degree from Washington State University in 1934. She moved to Alaska to become a teacher at Anchorage High School (now West Anchorage High School).

She was one of the original faculty members of Anchorage Community College (ACC), where she taught English from 1954 to the mid 1970s. She also worked as a manager of a local book store, a public relations specialist for Elmendorf Air Force Base, managed a radio station and was an executive secretary.

Eventually she returned to her first love, teaching English literature and composition classes and English as a second language. She has been active in professional associations, several times serving as chairwoman of the National Council of Teachers of English in Alaska, worked as associate editor of "Alaska's Northern Lights" magazine, and was instrumental in establishing a university native teacher training program.

She was serving as assistant professor of English at the University of Alaska, Anchorage Community College in 1972, when she received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Alaska.

Building B on the Anchorage Community College campus was named the Sally Monserud Building in her honor and it is now known as Sally Monserud Hall. Sally Monserud died in 1991.

Her citation read in part: "Sally Monserud: whose dedication to teaching has swelled the ranks of the loyal new citizens and imbued them with the best of English literature."

In addition to her classes in English literature, and composition, Miss Monserud also taught a class in "English as a second language," a class which helped foreign-born residents improve their English skills.